Abstract

The intention of this research was to explore how therapeutic interventions found in the literature can be adapted and used in a closed, long-term art therapy group program for adult women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. The existing literature is examined with a focus on perspectives of trauma-informed therapy, art therapy with sexual abuse survivors, and group therapy with survivors. Therapeutic issues and techniques in these paradigms will be explored, culminating into a proposed structure for a twenty-four session art therapy group. Guidelines will be proposed for session objectives and content based on suggestions made in the literature review. The suggested art therapy interventions will be conceptualized and described through a framework for the beginning, middle or end phases of the group process. The paper will then conclude with a discussion of my own recommendations regarding the proposed model based on my own clinical experience in leading an art therapy group specifically for women survivors of childhood sexual abuse.